The following is a summary of “Survival and tumor characteristics of patients presenting with single primary versus second primary melanoma lesions,” published in the MAY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Sarver, et al.

Patients with a history of single primary melanomas are at an increased risk of developing subsequent melanomas, which can be synchronous (within 3 months) or asynchronous (after 3 months). For a study, researchers sought to compare the survival outcomes and tumor distributions between patients with a history of single primary melanomas and those with second primary melanomas.

The retrospective cohort study used data from an institutional database of 14,029 patients diagnosed with primary melanoma between 1970 and 2004.

Patients with second primary melanomas had improved survival probabilities compared to those with single primary melanomas (P = .04 and .002 for synchronous and asynchronous cohorts, respectively). The thickness of single primary lesions (2.2 ± 2.3 mm) was significantly greater than that of synchronous (2.0 ± 1.7 mm) and asynchronous (1.7 ± 1.3 mm) lesions. Synchronous lesions were more likely to be anatomically concordant than asynchronous lesions (55.7% vs. 38.2%, P < .001).

Patients with second primary melanomas showed a significant survival advantage and thinner lesions than those with a single primary melanoma. The findings supported the importance of full-body skin examinations, with particular attention to the region of initial diagnosis.

Reference: jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(22)00715-0/fulltext